Almost
by Marauder's Mirage
Summary: Set after Ruby Circle. Adrian decides to fight in a human war but what happens when he returns?


**This story is very obviously AU Sydrian but I originally wrote it for a school assignment years ago. I recently found it and decided to change the names around and make it a bit of all human Sydrian. Imagine this as after the end of the Ruby Circle and Adrian decides to go fight in the war.**

 **Enjoy :)**

As a soft breeze meandered down the familiar street only the sound of rustling autumn leaves accompanied Adrian as he made his way towards the welcoming light. He shifted his heavy fatigue jacket in an attempt to fight the cold that nipped at his exposed skin. His heavy feet pounded the broken asphalt pavement, the unbearable silence reminding him of the lonely nights in the desert. It may have been the shadows crowding around him, playing tricks on his eyes, but he almost could not recognise his house peeking out from behind the skeletal trees. They had been mere saplings the last time he had seen them. Upon reaching the weathered oak door, he took out a worn key from the pocket over his heart.

Inside his chest, a brave little bird fluttered its quivering wings as he pushed open the heavy door to find a toddler barrelling down the hallway and colliding with his legs in a passionate embrace. The boy looked up and Adrian saw his green eyes mirrored in the small face. He knelt down and ruffled the unruly brown hair, the same hair he tried to tame every morning. However as he reached out to pick him up, the boy turned away and raced back into the arms of the woman waiting at the end of the hallway.

Seeing her was like a breath of fresh air. He took one step toward her, then two; the next second he was almost running feeling like he may explode if he did not hold her in his arms. Her blonde hair framed her face like a golden halo and as a warm smile graced her face he was filled with an evangelical zeal. She opened her arms to him and he came to a stop within them, nestling his face in her hair, murmuring her name like a prayer. After a moment she stepped back and shifted their son in her arms. _Look Declan, Daddy's home!_

But the boy just buried his face in his mother's neck. Sydney looked up and gave Adrian a reassuring smile. _He's probably just tired._ When he did not reply, she held out her hand and led him upstairs, Declan a little monkey at her side. As he followed his wife up the stairs, he couldn't help but realise that her once shoulder-length hair now reached the small of her back. Halfway up, Declan relinquished his steel grasp on his mother long enough to lift his weary head and look at Adrian. The innocent stare bore into him, leaving him an open book. It was as if his son could see the horrible red, staining his hands, and its unyielding burden. Like an icicle had pierced his heart, a freezing cold raced through his veins as he remembered the screaming mothers clinging onto lifeless bodies. He remembered the horrible sacrifices he had made to make sure his son never saw the horrors abundant in this fractured world. Yawning, Declan lay his head down again.

At the top of the stairs, Declan slid off Sydney and scampered off to his room. As Adrian incredulously watched his son tugging on his own clothes, a fire kindled in his mind, the dusty corners finally coming to light. While he had left and fought for his country, his family had learnt to tackle life without him. They didn't need him anymore. He was just an old woollen coat at the back of the cupboard forever waiting for winter to arrive. The revelation spun in his mind like sand in a desert storm. The world he had once known like the back of his hand had tipped, leaving him tumbling off a cliff. His despairing thoughts came to a screeching halt as his wife turned to face him, nudging him towards their bedroom.

Alone with her it felt like their first date all over again. Unsaid words hung between them, resonating throughout the room. Sydney came up to him and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his thrumming heart. _Are you okay?_ The precarious words threatened to escape, to fill the void its absence created. He wanted to tell her, he needed to tell her how the world had kept spinning while he had been left behind. But he held those words back. Those words need not taint those he loved. Instead he smiled and whispered back, _I will be._

 **Hope you enjoyed this random story :) Please review if you liked it**


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